Okay, so I'm 20 years old and I really want to do a tandem then an AFF jump.

The only thing holding me back is that my parents are against it, regardless of statistics, and I completely understand - If I flipped the script, I wouldn't let my kid go either. It feels odd going against my parents' wishes.

My first was a static line when I was 19. I didn't tell anyone I was going. Just went and did it. If I had been living with my parents, I probably would have told them before I did it, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have tried to stop me or explicitly told me not to. I'm sure they would have voiced concerns, but nothing beyond that.

Okay, so I'm 20 years old and I really want to do a tandem then an AFF jump.

The only thing holding me back is that my parents are against it, regardless of statistics, and I completely understand - If I flipped the script, I wouldn't let my kid go either. It feels odd going against my parents' wishes.

I was almost 40 when I went for the first time, so it just never occurred to me to tell them before I went.

Just as an alternate viewpoint, though, I saw a young woman come out just after her 18th birthday to do a tandem and wind up having to go to the hospital. She came with a friend but they had not told her parents. I would hate to be on the other end of that phone call.

Have a serious talk with your (hopefully) mature parents. Don't talk about statistics or anything, just say that this is something that really interests you and that you are going to go ahead with it with or without your blessing. Tell them that it would mean a lot to you if they supported you on this adventure

Hope for the best!

Hell I dragged my dad along to do our first tandem together and I did my second tandem with my mom! She also did another tandem with me after I got my A license, so we rode the plane up together

After I got on the ground. At the time, I was 19 years old and spending the summer half a continent away, so my parents were simultaneously quite supportive of my independence and completely unable to do anything about it.

To be fair, though, I started jumping off the roof of the garage at the age of 5 and had told them since the age of 10 that I was going to go skydiving, so while the timing may have been a bit of a surprise, the act itself definitely was not.

Talk to your parents if you think they'll come around. If you think they'll never support it, consider whether taking up this sport is worth possibly damaging that relationship and how much damage it could cause. Your call.

My 77 year old mother told me "If there is something you want to do, do it while you still feel up to it. I did 2 jumps and told her in a normal conversation a few days later. I was 54, last Oct when I started.

I would suggest you do your best to calmly try to bring them over to some type of approval.

As someone already said, if out are depending on them for money or housing, I would suggest you not go against their wishes. it is a matter of respect and courtesy. Sort of hard to expect them to treat you as an adult if you are a dependent.

The one phone call that I am very glad not to have been on was a guy who used to hang out at the same bar I did back when I was single & in my twenties.

He got picked up in a raid on a joint, was down at the precint, called his wife because he did not have bail money & would be spending the night. He was heard to say, "Now honey, a sodomy charge is really not what you think it is."

My parents and sister and her husband came to watch me do my tandem and when I landed I told my family that it was the coolest thing I had ever experienced and my mom said "I could do that." It wasn't 15 minutes later she was signing paperwork to jump. I already knew that I wanted to sign up for AFF before my tandem but first I wanted to experience a tandem before AFF, and now just 2 months after I did my tandem I am 3 skydives away from getting my A license.

My mom paid for my tandem...had some family party that night and I showed everyone else the video...they weren't too happy. 2 years later the only one who really approves is my mom. I have even been offered a good amount of money from the rest of my family members to stop jumping

Ever since that Canada Day celebration weekend where I first saw someone under canopy, about age 9-10, I wanted to be a skydiver. Sadly enough, school and social life always put that idea aside.

Last year, May 2011, I come "home" and tell my mom that I'll finally going to go skydive a few weeks later...

Before I tell you her reaction, I wanna say that our relation between her and I was always, always positive. From my first experience with Alcohol and Bar (never got into drugs *high five*) she always took it as "Live your life because I didn't". She was the oldest of 7 kids so she was always a 2nd mother her whole teens life.

So I come home, tell her and she flip the F out! I mean cursing and being angry and everything! I was very, very surprised. Did not expect such a reaction from the calm, positive mother I grew up with.

After her little tantrum, she finally go away and come back 30 sec later with a card. I had my graduation ceremony a few weeks after (3 days after my tandem was schedule). She give it to me and tell me to open it.

"Dear son, I am very proud of you for all your hard work finally paying off. It was a dream of mine to see you graduating and to thank you for making my dream come true, I will make yours come true. You will finally going to experience skydiving. (...)"

My mom flipped out because I ruined her surprise. So let's just say that I got my tandem paid for ;)

Sadly she didn't know it was the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life. But she is very happy for me that I found one hell of a passion.

"Dear son, I am very proud of you for all your hard work finally paying off. It was a dream of mine to see you graduating and to thank you for making my dream come true, I will make yours come true. You will finally going to experience skydiving. (...)"